Rubbernecking and The Automobile
See also: Distracted drivingThe term is often used to refer to the activity of motorists slowing down in order to see something on the other side of a road or highway, often the scene of a traffic accident. According to a 2003 study, rubbernecking was the cause of 16 percent of distraction-related traffic accidents. It features in the book 100 Most Dangerous Things in Everyday Life and What You Can Do About Them and is said to be factored into highway design. The book advises that the safest course when there are flashing lights and an accident is to keep moving, "there is nothing to see here". Rubbernecking's impact on traffic has been the subject of studies.
Read more about this topic: Rubbernecking
Famous quotes containing the word automobile:
“I shall not bring an automobile with me. These inventions infest France almost as much as Bloomer cycling costumes, but they make a horrid racket, and are particularly objectionable. So are the Bloomers. Nothing more abominable has ever been invented. Perhaps the automobile tricycles may succeed better, but I abjure all these works of the devil.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)